HONDA. * 179 



mounted with parapets. From the cir- 

 cumstance of the strata of all these corre- 

 sponding in a singular manner, M. Bouguer 

 supposes that the valley must have sunk by- 

 some sudden convulsion of nature, leaving 

 the sides of those hills uncovered, whose 

 bases were of more solid materials than 

 itself. 



The same thing is observable on the banks 

 of the Orinoco, though nothing of the kind 

 is to be seen in Peru, where nature is so 

 infinitely varied in her Alpine scenery. 



Our walk this morning through those mea- 

 dows to the heights on which we stood had 

 been particularly agreeable and exhilarating. 

 The rising sun gilding the mountain- tops, 

 the sweet notes of multitudes of birds, the 

 beautiful trees through which we passed, 

 where the guacheracas (the pheasant of the 

 country) were flying in great numbers, from 

 N 2 



